[Federal Register: October 8, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 195)]
[Notices]
[Page 58100-58103]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08oc03-48]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Notice of a Grant for Public Health Educational Efforts Conducted
by the National Health Museum
AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the
Secretary, Office of Public Health and Science, Office of Minority
Health.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Minority Health (OMH), Office of Public Health
and Science (OPHS), announces that it will award a single source grant
to the National Health Museum of Washington, DC. The purpose of this
grant is to support U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
efforts to communicate emerging public health issues to the public,
expand the
[[Page 58101]]
general audience for HHS public health initiatives such as Steps to a
HealthierUS, enhance and expand the teaching of public health to
students in grades K-12 by providing educational resources to health
and life science teachers, and encourage health and science museums to
support public health exhibitions and educational programming.
Authority: Section 301 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act.
The professional audience for the National Health Museum is
comprised of the nation's public health and museum and science center
leaders but the end audience that will benefit from the museum is much
larger. More than 800 million visits occur each year in American
museums and science centers, yet only a relatively small percentage of
these visits address public health issues. Funded activities will
directly support efforts to reach this public audience with educational
activities that incorporate public health learning objectives.
Activities will be undertaken to bring public health and museum and
science center leaders together to collaborate in the development of
products useful to a broad, general audience. Specifically, the grant
is intended to: (1) Develop a master plan for museum exhibits; (2)
support implementation of the National Public Health Partnership to
create a Rapid Response Network (RRN) that could help promote quicker,
better-coordinated responses to public health emergencies by
communicating CDC and NIH-developed information and research to the
public through outreach to the nation's museums, science centers and
public health educators, and (3) expand the museum Web site to provide
educational resources and instructional support for middle school
teachers of health and life sciences.
DATES: Persons requesting additional information about this notice
should contact the OPHS Office of Grants Management, no later than
November 7, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Persons requesting additional information about this notice
should contact the OPHS Office of Grants Management, 1101 Wootton
Parkway, 5th Floor, Rockville, MD 20852. An application kit may be
requested by telephone from (301) 594-0758 or by fax from (301) 594-
9399.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CFDA: Applied for.
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Background
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the
agency protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential
human services, especially for those least able to help themselves. HHS
health agencies have responsibility for a wide range of public health
activities, working closely with State and local government, public and
private nonprofit organizations, schools systems, business and
industry. Program responsibilities among public health agencies include
but are not limited to biomedical and health services research and
translation of research findings into public health practice; the
safety of food, drugs, and medical devices; disease prevention and
health promotion; improving and expanding access to quality of health
care; public health workforce education and development; and conducting
rapid and effective responses to public health emergencies. The current
HHS Steps to a HealthierUS initiative, led by Secretary Tommy G.
Thompson, highlights the importance of prevention in public health,
particularly for diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and asthma, by
promoting healthy community lifestyles and healthy behavior. The
initiative has a special focus on health among youth and older
Americans.
The mission of the National Health Museum, a nongovernmental
501[c][3] organization, is to educate, engage, and inspire people,
young and old, to understand the past, present, and future of health
and health science and empower them to act upon that information to
enhance their individual, family, and community health. The goals of
the museum are to educate people about the human body and health
science, to motivate people to learn more about their health needs and
make positive lifestyle changes, to promote appreciation of the
Nation's health science and medical heritage, and to serve as an
independent and unbiased center of dialogue about health issues.
Providing support for the promotion of public health activities was
identified by museum planners as one of the key opportunities for
museum programming, by museum planners, and the museum is a convener of
the National Public Health Partnership comprising 28 organizations
dedicated to bridging the gap between public health and informal
education in museum and science center settings. Established in 1996,
the museum operates an extensive educational Web site at http://www.accessexcellence.org
, and plans to build a Washington, DC facility
that will include a ``discovery center'' for visitors, K-12 classroom
facilities and resources, and a health conference center. Additionally,
the museum will use HHS funds to support implementation of the NPHP, a
nationwide network of museums, science centers, and public health
organizations that will actively address public health issues. The
National Health Museum conceptualized and secured funding for formative
research that has resulted in a strategic plan. HHS funds will be used
to undertake implementation of this plan, which will involve
Partnership members in information dissemination, project
collaborations and resource sharing.
The National Health Museum is uniquely qualified to accomplish the
purpose of this grant because:
[sbull] It is developing an educational facility in the nation's
capitol that is projected to attract over 2 million visitors each year
with public health-oriented programs, exhibits and activities.
[sbull] It provides leadership to a nationwide network of museums
and science centers in developing public health educational materials.
[sbull] It has an explicit mission to provide assistance to K-12
health and life science teachers and learners of all ages by furthering
their understanding of public health.
[sbull] It has a Web site that attracts more than 5.7 million
monthly ``hits'' including 650,000 health and life science educators
and learners.
[sbull] It maintains a national directory that can match public and
private sector health experts with schools, community groups,
institutions, and media outlets who could use their expertise to
develop programs and media on chronic and emerging public health
issues.
[sbull] As a convener of the National Public Health Partnership
which consists of 28 organizations that focus on bridging the gap
between public health and education in museum and science center
settings, it has strong working relationships with the primary
organizations essential to the fulfillment of the public health mission
of this grant.
Assistance will be provided only to the National Health Museum
under this grant. Various HHS agencies have contributed funds for this
effort. The OMH will award this grant on behalf of these agencies.
Purposes of the Grant
The Office of Minority Health, Office of Public Health and Science,
will award a single source grant to the
[[Page 58102]]
National Health Museum. The purpose of this grant is to support HHS
efforts to communicate emerging public health issues to the public,
expand the general audience for HHS public health initiatives such as
Steps to a HealthierUS, enhance and expand the teaching of public
health to students in grades 6-12 by providing educational resources to
health and life science teachers, and encourage health and science
museums to support public health exhibitions and educational
programming. The grant will enable the National Health Museum to plan
and implement program activities directed toward three goals.
(1) Planning
A Master Plan will be developed to establish a detailed thematic
outline for National Health Museum exhibitions and programs, further
articulate the key health communications and learning tactics that will
be applied by the museum to support the public health mission. Planning
sessions with key public health experts from the academic, government,
non-profit and private sectors will inform these planning activities,
to identify ``best practices'' from exemplary museums, science centers
and other informal learning venues. Museum exhibits ultimately will
serve the multi-generational annual audience of more than 2 million
individuals that is expected to visit the NHM physical facility in
Washington, DC, for public health-oriented programs, exhibitions, and
educational activities.
(2) National Public Health Partnership
NHM will use HHS funds to support implementation of the
Partnership, a nationwide network of museums, science centers, and
public health organizations that will actively address public health
issues. Activities will be undertaken to bring public health and museum
and science center leaders together to collaborate in the development
of products useful to a broad, general audience. One such product will
be a Rapid Response Network (RRN) that will help promote quicker,
better-coordinated responses to public health emergencies by
communicating Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National
Institutes of Health-developed information and research to the public
through outreach to the nation's museums, science centers and public
health educators. For example, many Partnership member institutions
reported receiving inquiries from their visitors recently during the
heightened concern over SARS that they were not equipped to answer.
Support may be directed to development of items such as resource
guides, speakers bureaus, electronic presentations and ``toolkits'' of
fast, credible information on rapidly developing public health
emergencies or issues.
(3) Museum Web Site
Funds will be used to expand the Museum Web site, Access Excellence@The National Health Museum, which attracts an online
audience of more than 650,000 health and life science educators and
learners each month. The site, which is currently focused on serving
the needs of high school life science teachers, will be expanded to
reach a larger middle school audience and provide additional resources
specifically designed for health teachers. These additional resources
will help address the needs of health teachers who require standards-
based lesson plans that are proven effective but who frequently do not
have the experience, knowledge, or time to develop such resources for
themselves. The expanded resources, including real-time, on-demand, and
streaming video materials, will have up-to-date, quality information
that is educationally sound, and uses technology to provide innovative
and creative classroom activities.
II. Award Information
OMH intends to make $1 million available to the National Health
Museum for a project period of 12 months. A budget of up to $1 million
total costs (direct and indirect) for this 12-month project period may
be requested to cover costs of:
[sbull] Personnel
[sbull] Consultants
[sbull] Supplies
[sbull] Equipment
[sbull] Grant related travel
[sbull] Other grant related costs
Funds may not be used for:
[sbull] Medical treatment
[sbull] Construction
[sbull] Building alterations or renovations
The budget request must be fully justified in terms of the proposed
objectives and activities and include a computational explanation of
how costs were determined. The applicant is not required to provide
matching funds or share in project costs.
III. Eligibility Information
Assistance will be provided only to the National Health Museum of
Washington, DC.
IV. Application and Submission Information
Application must be submitted on Form PHS 5161-1 (Revised July 2000
and approved by OMB under Control Number 0937-0189). An applicant is
advised to pay close attention to the specific program guidelines and
general instructions provided in the application kit. The application
kit is available from the OPHS Office of Grants Management at the
address, telephone, and fax numbers previously listed.
An applicant must submit an original and 2 copies of the completed
application to the OPHS Office of Grants Management at the address
previously listed. The original application must be signed by the
individual authorized to act for the applicant organization and to
assume for the organizations the obligations imposed by the terms and
conditions of the grant award.
To receive consideration, the grant application must be received by
the OPHS Office of Grants Management by November 7, 2003. An
application will be considered as meeting the deadline if it is (1)
received on or before the deadline date, or (2) postmarked on or before
the deadline date and received in time for orderly processing. A
legibly dated receipt from a commercial carrier or U.S. Postal Service
will be accepted in lieu of a postmark. Private metered postmarks will
not be accepted as proof of timely mailing. A hand-delivered
application must be received in the OPHS Office of Grants Management
not later than 4:30 p.m. on the application due date. An application
must be submitted in hard copy. An application submitted by facsimile
transmission (FAX) or any other electronic format will not be accepted.
The applicant will receive written notification from the OPHS Office of
Grants Management via Form PHS 3038-1 that its application has been
received.
Review Under Executive Order 12372
An application under this announcement is not subject to the
requirements of Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of
Federal Programs.''
Program Requirements/Application Content
This notice seeks an application from the National Health Museum to
plan and implement program activities that will communicate emerging
public health issues to the public, expand the general audience for HHS
public health initiatives, support the teaching of public health to
students in grades K-12, and encourage health and science
[[Page 58103]]
museums to support public health exhibitions and educational
programming. A successful application will focus on the following:
(1) Evidence that the applicant has experience in planning and
implementing educational programming on health sciences to the general
public, including young people.
(2) Evidence that the applicant thoroughly understands public
health goals, methods, and programs and that the applicant has access
to and working relationships with health and science teachers, and to
health and science museums and centers suitable to carry out the
objectives of this project.
(3) A clear description of target audiences for the messages and
the strategies that will be employed to reach them.
(4) A clear description of goals and objectives for the educational
and communications efforts that will be undertaken and the measures
that will be used to determine success.
(5) A description of the type, length, activities, and services
that will be planned and implemented as part of this effort, and a
rationale for the proposed approach.
(6) Evidence that the proposed plan is appropriate, feasible, and
logically sequenced to attain the stated goals.
(7) A plan to evaluate individual program activities or the program
as a whole and its impact (or potential impact) on the target
audiences.
(8) A detailed budget justification for the project that is
reasonable, adequate, and cost efficient and which includes staffing
requirements derived from the proposed activities.
Program Evaluation
The project is required to have an evaluation plan consistent with
the scope of the proposed project and funding level that conforms to
the program's stated goal and objectives. The plan should include both
a process evaluation to track the implementation of program activities
and, as appropriate, an outcome evaluation to track changes in
knowledge, skills, or behavior that can be attributed to the program.
V. Application Review Information
The funding decision will be determined by the HHS Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Minority Health based on results of a technical review by
an ad hoc, independent review group conducted by the Office of Minority
Health. The application will be reviewed by an Applications will be
assessed for technical merit according to the following criteria:
(1) Methodology (35 Points)
[sbull] Appropriateness of proposed approach
[sbull] Appropriateness of specific activities for educational
programming objectives outlined
[sbull] Logic and sequencing of the planned approaches
(2) Evaluation (20 Points)
[sbull] Thoroughness, feasibility, and appropriateness of the
evaluation design, data collection, and analysis procedures
[sbull] Clear intent and plans to document the activities and their
outcomes
(3) Background (15 Points)
[sbull] Expertise and understanding of public health goals,
methodologies, and programs
[sbull] Demonstrated access to and experience in communicating health/
science information to youth and their teachers, the general public,
museums, and science centers
[sbull] Demonstrated experience in networking, planning, and
implementing activities at a national level
[sbull] Demonstrated outcomes of past similar efforts/activities with
the target audiences
(4) Objectives (15 Points)
[sbull] Merit of the objectives
[sbull] Relevance to the program purpose and stated problem
[sbull] Attainability in the stated time frames
(5) Management Plan (15 Points)
[sbull] Demonstrated knowledge/skills in program and project management
[sbull] Demonstrated knowledge/skills in health/science education and
health/science communications
[sbull] Capability to plan and coordinate efforts at a national level
[sbull] Capability to manage and evaluate the project as determined by:
[sbull] The qualifications of proposed staff or requirements for ``to
be hired'' staff
--Staff level of effort
--Management experience of the applicant
--Clarity of the applicant's organizational chart
VI. Award Administration Information
The applicant will be notified by mail regarding the outcome of its
application. The Notice of Grant Award is the official document
informing the applicant that its application has been approved and
funded. This document specifies the amount of money awarded, the
purpose of the grant, the terms and conditions of the grant award, and
the amount of funding, if any, to be contributed to project costs by
the grant recipient.
VII. Agency Contacts
For technical assistance on budget and business aspects of the
application or administrative requirements, please contact Karen
Campbell, OPHS Office of Grants Management, (301) 594-0758.
For assistance with questions about program requirements, please
contact Blake Crawford or Yvonne Johns, Division of Information and
Education, Office of Minority Health, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 600,
Rockville, MD 20852, telephone (301) 443-5224.
Dated: September 30, 2003.
Tuei Doong,
Deputy Director, Office of Minority Health.
[FR Doc. 03-25506 Filed 10-7-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-29-P